In the manufacture of metal caskets, and, particularly, caskets made of various grades of sheet steel or panelling, a relatively large number of manipulative steps are required, many of which necessitate the intervention of a considerable amount of manual labor. Consequently, the manufacturing cost of metal caskets is relatively high and is increasing at an alarming rate in view of the increase in prices of steel and precious metals as well as the increase in the cost of labor. Accordingly, it would be of extreme benefit to the industry to reduce the cost of casket manufacture by minimizing the various steps in the manufacturing process, and, of course, reducing the extent of intervention of manual labor.
Normally, when manufacturing metal caskets of steel, sheets and panels of suitable dimensions will be subjected to stamping operations in arriving at desired component configuration. In general, the stamped casket parts include a cap or lid, the side and end panels as well as the bottom. The casket shells will either have round ends or square ends. In the case of round end casket shells, the end panels have rounded corner sections; or, on the other hand, rounded corner pieces may be utilized in joining the side and end panels. Towards this end, the side and end panels will be initially tack welded to one another and squared; or on the other hand, they may be tack welded to the selected corner piece and squared. After squaring, the bottom, sides and end panel will be welded to one another. Anywhere from approximately 7 to 12 tack welds will be applied at the corner joints. This joint may be defined by a butt connection but, normally, with the end panels having rounded end sections the joint will be created by an overlapping of the adjacent edges. In such casket shell construction, it is necessary to apply a weld at each joint between the end sections and the side panels and consequently a total of four welds, with each weld being as long as the casket shell is tall or deep. These welds are usually made on the outside of the shell and due to the various contours of the shell are difficult and time consuming to grind or finish to a satisfactory appearance.
The welded joints will be subjected to a grinding operation followed by buffing and fine finishing to obtain the desired aesthetic appearance. The cap or lid is then assembled; and, following assembly, the entire casket is then passed through a cleaning operation followed by an application of primer and paint to obtain the appropriate decorative appearance. Selected hardware for both the exterior and interior is applied and the interior is suitably trimmed with liners, cloth and other materials.